Rain played spoilsport in what could well have been a breathtaking decider at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.

Owing to the unrelenting drizzle that followed a downpour just as the game was about to begin, the fifth and final India-South Africa T20I had to be abandoned with the series ending 2-2.

With the drainage facilities at the Chinnaswamy being a much improved one currently, the match officials did make one last attempt for resumption at the cut-off time, which was two minutes past 10pm. But there was just no end to the drizzle.

The decision to abandon the game was taken at around 9.37pm.

A night game in June getting abandoned by rain is always a possibility in a venue like Bangalore. It raises the question as to why the BCCI slotted an international game there at the start of the monsoons.

“This was Bangalore’s turn to host a T20I. But even the representative from South India didn’t point out or speak of the possibility of rain affecting the game.

“Had the person raised the matter, it obviously would have been looked into then,” a BCCI tours and fixtures committee member said.

A rain-drenched Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday. The final T20I between India and South Africa was abandoned because of rain. Twitter

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has decided to refund 50 per cent of the amount for all the paid tickets, it said in a statement.

Earlier, South Africa, led by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj in this game in the absence of the indisposed Temba Bavuma (recovering from elbow injury), won the toss for the fifth time in a row and had reduced India to 28 for 2 in the 3.3 overs of play possible. That, after heavy showers delayed the start by 50 minutes, reducing the game to a 19-overs-a-side contest.

For India, this was an opportunity lost as they had set themselves up wonderfully for a series win after winning back-to-back matches in style in spite of trailing 0-2 at one point. Captain Rishabh Pant, however, focused on the positives. “It’s a little bit frustrating, but there are a lot of positives, especially the way the whole team showed character after the series was 2-0 (in South Africa’s favour),” Pant said at the post-match presentation.

Pant believes India are going the “right way”. “We are trying to find different ways of winning matches. We are trying to play in a new way. Mistakes will happen, but we are going in the right way.”

India will next travel to Ireland for a two-match T20I series, which begins on June 26.